Ciao Budapest (V): Why Did L’Aranceto Wither and Die?

We don’t normally write about Budapest restaurants you can’t actually eat at, but since it’s “Italy Week” the demise of one somewhat notable local Italian eatery seems worth a mention, and maybe a bit of quick analysis. The ex-eatery in question is/was Ristorante L’Aranceto, pictured above at 10:45 last night, right around when it would have been full of people tucking into their secondi piatti had it actually been successful.

If you never made it to the “Orange Grove,” it was a small but high-end joint which opened up in a pleasant corner of Szabadság tér in central Pest last summer, and which closed earlier this Spring. It was the product of several years of toil by a Budapest-based Italian who owned (or owns) a nearby design furniture store.

So what killed L’Aranceto? Beyond the obvious – a lack of business! – a quick post-mortem would suggest the following as likely causes of death. First, the food, while good (we only went twice) was slightly uneven. Second, the prices, while not terrible, did not offer particularly good value. Third, the service was mediocre at best (we remember a classic incident in which our waiter hesitated to take back a bottle of wine that was corked beyond recognition, and heard of another where the owner selected a wine for a patron that was way out of line, price-wise.) Fourth, the location, though on a nice square and within spitting distance of the always-heaving Café Farger and Iguana, was actually far from perfect; the barrier of large potted plants that gave the terrace a pleasant atmosphere also made the place almost invisible in summer. Fifth, from what we can tell, after all the sweat the owner put into opening the place, he never bothered to publicize it. Finally, even if the place had been full most nights, it might still have had trouble surviving, because of its small number of tables, especially in the off-season.

Added together, all these factors point unmistakably to an overall cause of death that we might call “amateur restaurant owner syndrome.” As with so many other unexceptional and ultimately unsuccessful restaurants in Budapest, L’Aranceto seems to have failed because its owner was not a professional restaurateur, but someone who, for whatever reason, wanted to own a restaurant. But what do we know; we’re just amateur restaurant critics…